Super Yacht training school

The Super Yacht training School – Service with more than just a smile

As the rich get richer there is an increasing number of superyatchts in production (400 worldwide currently). This means available jobs on superyachts. Competition for these well paid jobs is intense and to date the Yachting industry has lacked any formal ‘standard’ of training for this specific type of service staff. There is mandatory training for Deck crew and engineers but til now nothing for yacht interior crew which is surprising. The term superyacht is for a large yacht, more than 50m or 164ft long, usually on sale for anything between £30m and £60m.

Super Yacht training school courses for VIP service staff

The Bespoke Bureau’s British Butler Academy has developed a Super Yacht training school. The already famed yacht interior academy allows service staff such as Stewards and Stewardesses to attain a super yacht qualifications. The aim of the super yacht training school is to drive up standards in the Yachting industry. The curriculum gives students the skills they need to find work on a super yacht. It gives them a hand to find work on a yacht and to earn high wages. The yacht crew training programme starts at introduction level rising to Chief Steward (ess) roles and responsibilities.

Sara Vestin Rahmani , the owner of Bespoke Bureau, a high-end domestic staff saw a gap in the market. After years of staffing and training for VIP clients home staff, she decided to launch the Super Yacht training school. Now the yacht recruitment agency and training academy meets demands from VIP clients needing staff and training for their yachts. The yacht crew recruitment agency that runs alongside the yacht academy helps the students prepare their CVs and find work placements on super yachts.

The people that teach on the Super Yacht training school

The expertise trainers who conduct the 5 day yacht interior crew course at the Super Yacht training school have served high profile owners on-board their yachts and are well-qualified to pass on their expertise to the enthusiastic students. Whilst the introduction course focuses on the basics, it covers in detail how a steward should conduct themselves. The yacht interior course give students an insight into working in a small team in a confined space. When you find a job on a super yacht your employer will look at every detail of your service delivery and simply expect the very best. Bespoke Bureau also offers advanced Steward and Stewardess courses as well as creates tailor made courses for existing yacht crew for their mega rich clients from the Middle east, China and Russia.

The Yacht interior training course offers training in theory but also offers practical elements. The students are taught everything from their correct posture and eye contact to presentation of towels. They teach all types of service including silver service training. The correct yacht etiquette is essential in this premium service role but students must also be aware of cultural differences as the client base. Most chartered Superyachts have international guests throughout the year.

Sara Vestin Rahmani-Flower arranging at the super yacht training school

Despite the fall-out from recession, the lives of the super-rich seem immune to the constraints of the global downturn. These are people who are used to getting what they want and, as employers, they tend to be extremely exacting.

Our group of students were given the privilege of some of their training on board Latitude, a 52m yacht. But this is unusual, given the priceless nature of art and other various fittings on the superyachts. The yacht interior course is generally conducted on a central London super yacht but also at times in the head quarters of Bespoke Bureau. The super yacht training school has a real life environment with cabins and a galley so that students can test their skills without the potential for messing up at great cost.

For those equipped with discretion, servility and good housekeeping skills it can lead to a rewarding, lucrative career. Many of the skills the students learn here could be transferred to work in a domestic setting, Vestin Rahmani say. During the courses, Sara and her domestic staff agency staff are also scouting for butler talent for their London butler company. She is seeing a rising demand for butlers, she says, and her experience chimes with recent research indicating that there are more butler and housekeeper servants in Mayfair now than there were 200 years ago. Some wealthy families hire butlers but also entourages stretching to ladies maids, private chefs, private drivers and personal assistants.

The job specifications on Yacht crew recruitment agencies, like Vestin Rahmani’s, give an insight into the lives of VIP employers. These client want to hire with service training qualifications and the Bespoke Bureau are delivering to them.

Sara Vestin Rahmani says that the rising numbers of super yachts will create jobs for some 3,500 new yacht crew. A quarter of these will work as yacht interior crew staff. It can be a lucrative career for those who possess the right skills, attitude and demeanour. The yacht crew salaries range from an average of £2,500 Euros a month and increasing to £7000 Euros or more a month for experienced senior yacht staff. You also get your berth on the yacht and all meals. It’s incredibly hard work and competition for entry-level positions is intense. Students hoping to enter the yacht industry on the course believe a combination of the skills they will develop plus the help in finding employment within the industry provides a good return on the cost of the interior yacht crew training course. At £300 a day (£1500 per 5 days) we believe that it is an investment. To book your super yacht training school course in London, call +442031670925 or email info@bespokebureau.com